The part people often miss is that Paul wanted women in the classroom, learning scripture, theology, Greek and Hebrew, reading and writing, and presumably teaching and evangelizing, right alongside the men. Continue reading 1 Timothy 2:11-12
Excerpts from Cynthia Long Westfall and NT Wright, trying to get a handle on the word translated “Authority” in 1 Timothy 2:12 Continue reading αὐθεντέω
There are four important points to consider before wading into a Bible passage in order to try to understand what it’s saying and what it means, let alone to try and figure out how to live it out. Continue reading “Twisted Scripture”
There appeared to be racial, or at least cultural, discrimination in the distribution of food. Continue reading Acts Wednesday: Chapter 6, Hungry Widows
Surely some of you are asking why. Why would God say the Levites were to be priests? Guess what. There is an answer to that, but it’s a triggering kind of story, if you have a low tolerance for evil and violence. Continue reading Has God Appointed Men as God Appointed Levites?
The rhythm and flow of the end of chapter 7 almost feels like the ebb and swell of waves. “The waters swelled and increased…” in verse 17, and in 18, then 19, and again in 20. Can you feel the movement of the creaking boat, taking the swell aft, the water lapping and splashing, the keel groaning, the swell pushing up and up, then releasing leeward. Continue reading Please Remember Me
Trouble came pounding, they prayed, and God answered powerfully with a fresh infilling of His Spirit. Continue reading Acts Wednesday: Chapter 4, Persecution…Prayer
A tale thousands of years old, pointing to a time even farther back, can be difficult to envision. How real, how concrete, is this story? What are we to take away from it? How important is it to reconcile every detail with what we know now, concerning geography, carbon dating, evidence of people groups, and timelines that don’t seem to dovetail with Genesis’ account of a world-wide cataclysmic event? Continue reading The 17th Day of Iyar
The Flood, in whatever iteration, is a story told round the world. All of humankind seems to have a shared memory of God’s judgment by water. Ancient accounts of a destructive flood can be found in every corner of the planet. Tribes in new Guinea, India, Brazil, China, Norway, Mexico, and even First Nation peoples from North America all have a flood story. Continue reading Forty Days and Forty Nights
The difference between Noah and everyone else was merely their response to God’s grace. Everybody else scoffed, but Noah took God seriously. The difference between those who were saved and those who died in the flood was the difference between being in the ark and being outside it. Continue reading Tsunami
